The 28-year-old Dudamel is just about the hottest young thing on the classical-music scene today—the new music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Venezuelan-born, jheri curl-sporting conductor is widely considered a prodigy. He started studying violin and composition at age 10, and won the Gustav Mahler Conducting Prize in Germany at only 23. His second Deutsche Grammophon recording, Mahler 5 with the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra, became the only classical album on iTunes' "Next Big Thing” in 2007. Dudamel is a product of El Sistema, Venezuela’s children’s arts program, often noted as the best in the world. Singer Linda Ronstadt even name-checked Dudamel in Congress, when she was pleading for more money for the arts. “As you may know, there is a conductor of staggering talent who has been hailed as the next Leonard Bernstein,” she said. “Perhaps you have seen him featured on 60 Minutes.”
Urs Flueeler, Keystone / AP Photo
The prodigal son, German conductor Marc Albrecht, 45, takes after his father, conductor George Alexander Albrecht. He was just named the chief conductor of the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, and of the De Nederlandse Opera, effective as of the 2011-2012 season. He was previously artistic director of the Strasbourg Philharmonic. Of his conducting, a critic at Opera Today wrote, “Mighty Maestro Albrecht…not known that widely outside of a small musical axis in Germany and environs. He should be. Make that ‘he will be.’ Or even ‘he must be.’”
Marco Borggreve
One of the only young females to make waves in the conducting world, de la Parra—born in Mexico (and now the Cultural Ambassador for Mexican Tourism)—is only 28 and already a major name. She is the artistic director of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas (which she helped found), and has conducted the New World Symphony, Houston, and San Antonio Orchestras, and has worked with Geoffrey Rush, Joshua Bell, and the same Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela that bred Dudamel’s talent. De la Parra also has the awesome distinction of being the first Mexican woman to conduct a concert in New York City.
Rodrigo Varela, WireImage / Getty Images
You don’t see many conductors that look like 30-year-old Kazem Abdullah up on the podium (though you certainly should), one reason that he has gained so much attention in a short time. Starting this season, Abdullah will conduct the Orquestra de Sao Paulo, one of Brazil’s best ensembles. Before heading to South America, American-born (and Cincinnati trained) Abdullah was the assistant conductor at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, and also conducted the Helsinki Philharmonic and the ensemble at the Tanglewood Music Center, where, according to his bio, he recently “substituted on very short notice to conduct performances of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas.”
Courtesy of Columbia Artists Management Inc.
James Gaffigan doesn’t have his own orchestra to conduct yet, but it seems to be just a matter of time. The native New Yorker (educated at Fame high school La Guardia, naturally) just finished three years as the associate conductor of the San Francisco Symphony under Michael Tilson Thomas, and he will guest conduct this season for the Toronto, Indianapolis, New World and New Jersey symphonies, the Rochester Philharmonic, the National Arts Centre Orchestra and the Cleveland Orchestra. And he’s only 30.
Margaretta K. Mitchell
Pietari Inkinen is a violinist at heart, but a conductor in greatness—at only 29 years old, the Finn is already the music director of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, and is the principal guest conductor of the Japan Symphony Orchestra as of this year. When he was only 22 years old, Inkinen got a great writeup in The New York Times, telling the paper the reason why Finland breeds so many great conductors: “We have the mentality for music, we have the discipline and we know how to keep cool, all of which makes us good leaders. And now that's the image of us in the world.''
Tanja Ahola
Not just a pretty face, Gardner, 35 and a Brit, is the conductor of the English National Opera (and has been since 2007). Gardner got his big break in 1999, when—while still a student at the Royal Academy of Music—he filled in at the last minute for an ill conductor at the venerable Salzburg Music Festival. From there, he moved to Manchester to help conduct the Halle Symphony (which happens to be the world’s fourth oldest symphony), and then on to the ENO, a move that had the U.K. press hailing Gardner as the “rising star of British music” and “the man who rescued opera.”
Jillian Edelstein / Camera Press London
Michael Christie knows what it takes to be a 21st-century conductor—you can follow him on Twitter. Christie, 35, poses a triple threat as the music director of the Phoenix Symphony, Brooklyn Philharmonic, and Colorado Music Festival. He started waving his baton young, winning the First International Sibelius Conductor’s Competition in Helsinki at the jejune age of 21.
Rahav Segev, WireImage / Getty Images
Another woman competing against a sea of men, Carniero became the conductor of California’s Berkeley Symphony this year. Before the big promotion, the 32-year-old Portugal native worked under legendary conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen at the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and won two high-profile conducting prizes in 2002: the Maazel-Vilar Conductor's Competition at Carnegie Hall and Young Musicians’ Foundation’s 2002 National Conductor Search. She is principal guest conductor at her hometown symphony (the Metropolitan Orchestra of Lisbon), and on September 25, she will conduct the opening of the Venice Biennale in Italy. Not bad, even for a—gasp!—girl.
Duarte Mexia
Sometimes being the pinch hitter pays off—young Brit Michael Francis got a major chance to shine in January 2007 when he was asked to fill in on the London Symphony Orchestra rostrum for tardy principal conductor Valery Gergiev; and he nailed it. Gergiev is said to have exclaimed the classic “A star is born!” when he finally arrived. The Guardian noted that Francis did “incredible things” with his big break. Now, Francis is conducting the Stuttgart Radio Symphony on a guest basis, and will tour with the the world premiere of Wolfgang Rihm's Violin Concert, landing at the New York Philharmonic in November of next year.
Chris Christodoulou
Quite young to be an opera expert, Rogister, 29, has already conducted the Seattle Opera (where this summer, he helped to conduct the exhausting Wagner Ring cycle) and the Deutsche Oper Berlin. The North Carolina boy studied trombone at Indiana University, and felt some trepidation about taking up the baton. He told The Met, “I had always been interested in conducting, but it's a Catch-22 situation—you need experience even to get into school for conducting, but you don't have experience unless you've led an orchestra, and how are you going to get an orchestra?” But Rogister forged ahead, forming a small chamber group and enrolling in the Peabody Institute where he was mentored by the famous Gustav Meier.
Dario Acosta
Korea native Sung won what is basically the ultimate Star Search for conductors, the 2006 Sir Georg Solti International Conductors Competition. After earning that honor, Sung has gone on to become the assistant conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and conducted the Seoul Philharmonic, the Stockholm Opera, and the Helsingborg Orchestra in Sweden. Born in 1975, Sung played the piano almost from birth, and gave her first virtuoso solo performance at age 13 (leading to classical music studies in Berlin and Stockholm). Sometimes childhood discipline really pays off.
Pat Greenhouse, Boston Globe / Landov
At 34, Jordan is young to be one of Switzerland's finest, but conducting runs in the family—his father was maestro Armin Jordan. The younger Jordan was something of a piano prodigy, entering the Zurich Conservatory at only age 16, and made his conducting debut with the Ulm Stadttheater in Germany at only 20. He is now the newest music director of the Opéra National de Paris, and has conducted the New York Philharmonic, the Royal Opera, and the Houston Grand Opera. Making father proud!
Stephane De Sakutin, AFP / Getty Images
The youngest conductor on our list—only 16 years old (yes, 16)— Ilyich Rivas following in his Venezuelan brethren Gustavo Dudamel’s footsteps. His father, Alejandro Rivas, is also a conductor, a fact that probably helped Rivas score one of the seven coveted spots in California’s Cabrillo Festival Conductors Workshop last year. While there, Rivas caught the eye of Baltimore Symphony Orchestra conductor Marin Alsop, who signed the youngster on as a fellow with the BSO starting this fall. He made his professional debut this summer when he conducted the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra all by himself—remember, he’s 16—a gig that a burgeoning maestro at any age would salivate over (and would rarely get). As Access Atlanta noted, “Conducting prodigies are extremely rare, however, because leading an orchestra is a cumulative art that’s rewarded by life experience.” We guess Rivas is an old soul.
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